Irish Actor Brendan Gleeson Plays a Priest in 'Calvary'

Moments into "Calvary", Brendan Gleeson, playing a priest in Ireland, receives a death threat in the confessional. The unseen confessor explains that he was abused by a priest as a child. He plans to deal with his anguish by murdering a priest the following Sunday, he says, not a guilty priest but, somehow more fittingly, an innocent one.

So begins a countdown for Mr. Gleeson's Father James Lavelle. As the clock ticks "High Noon"-style toward his assassination date, he spends his days ministering to the quirky sinners and troubled souls of Sligo. They include his daughter Fiona (Kelly Reilly) from a pre-ordainment marriage.

Many in the town have lost faith in the church and other once-trusted institutions, including the Irish economy, and behave as if anything goes. Father James refuses to give up. Steadfast and good-humored, he seems at times like the last solid man, a lighthouse in the storm.

ENLARGE

In 'Calvary,' an Irish priest has a few days to deal with a death threat from a stranger.
20th Century Fox

"What's refreshing to me was that it's a good man," Mr. Gleeson says. "Usually the bad guys get the best lines."

Father James is a typically complex role for the burly Dublin-born actor, who got his start in movies when he was 34 years old. Before that he taught secondary-school English literature and did part-time stints in Dublin theater.

Now 59, Mr. Gleeson seems to be hitting his stride. Many people may recognize him from supporting parts in Hollywood blockbusters. He was Mel Gibson's fuzzy-faced Scottish wingman Hamish in the 1995 hit "Braveheart." He plays a misguided American general in this year's sci-fi thriller "Edge of Tomorrow." He was Hogwarts professor Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody in three "Harry Potter" movies. (His son Domhnall Gleeson played Bill Weasley in the last two films.)

Mr. Gleeson's bigger roles have come in smaller movies. He often plays cops or crooks who defy stereotypes.

In 2011's "The Guard," which like "Calvary" was written and directed by Irish screenwriter John Michael McDonagh, Mr. Gleeson played a rural policeman. His character enjoys the company of prostitutes and presents himself as a racist rube to an FBI agent (Don Cheadle) who arrives in County Galway for a joint investigation. But he also reads Russian literature and may be the only cop on the force who isn't on the take.

Several years earlier, in the comedic drama "In Bruges," Mr. Gleeson played a hit man with a weakness for friendship that wasn't good for his health. "In Bruges" was written and directed by Martin McDonagh (John Michael's brother). Mr. Gleeson also humanized real-life Irish gangster Martin Cahill in John Boorman's "The General," and he won an Emmy playing Winston Churchill in the BBC/HBO film "Into the Storm."

Mr. Gleeson's projects have been so diverse, fans might recognize him from a particular role and know nothing of his other work.

"I kind of think that's possibly a compliment," the actor speculates. One recurring theme is that—as Tom Cruise does repeatedly in "Edge of Tomorrow"—his characters die.

"My kids say I do two things [in movies]: I burst through doors and I die," he says.

John Michael McDonagh concurs, to an extent. "Both Father James and Gerry Boyle [in 'The Guard'] are Western heroes in a sense," he says. "They are prepared to ultimately face overwhelming odds and die, if need be." The writer-director says he wrote the Father James part specifically for Mr. Gleeson.

"I've never sent an actor a first draft of a screenplay before, but I did that with Brendan because we'd become good friends through our relationship on 'The Guard,' " Mr. McDonagh says. "When he read the screenplay he committed to it immediately, but he suggested I add a more emotional arc, particularly in the scenes between Father James and his daughter. Those scenes between Brendan and Kelly are now some of my favorite moments in the film."

Mr. McDonagh also asked Mr. Gleeson to grow a beard to add gravitas to his performance. Even at 59 the actor remains babyfaced—an asset for a performer who got a relatively late start on screen.

"When I decided to go full time [in acting], my main thing was just to see if I could keep working," Mr. Gleeson says. He still remembers the agent in Los Angeles who advised him, in the early 1990s, to forget about acting.

"He said I haven't a chance, basically. I wasn't the right body type, the right age or good-looking enough," Mr. Gleeson recalls. "He told me, more or less I think for my own good, that it wasn't gonna happen."

But Mr. Gleeson soon landed the "Braveheart" role and it did happen. He later bumped into the agent in an elevator at the 2009 Emmy awards, where he was honored for his portrayal of Churchill.

"I saw him in a lift, and I decided it was best left unsaid," Mr. Gleeson says.

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